A young talent exchange program was launched on Thursday in Beijing to boost people-to-people communication among global youths in the transport sector.

The participants were 80 foreign students selected from four Chinese Universities known for their transport science programs – Dalian Maritime University, Chang'an University, Shanghai Maritime University and Southwest Jiaotong University.

They are from 34 countries on five continents, including Pakistan, Djibouti, Ghana and Malawi.

About 70 percent are doctoral candidates or graduate students and about 40 percent are female, according to the Ministry of Transport's Transport Management Institute, one of the event organizers.

The 13-day program features seminars and visits to ports and other transport facilities in both Beijing and Shenzhen.

The program began against the backdrop of the second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference, taking place in Beijing from Thursday to Saturday. The conference aims to highlight sustainable transport's role in achieving the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

While addressing the opening ceremony of the talent program, the institute's Party secretary Yi Zhenguo said the program was intended to be a window for global youths to learn about the progress made by China and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in the field of transportation.

He said he hoped the participants will become ambassadors of friendship between China and their home countries, and help lay the foundation for future cooperation in transportation.